GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

MINISTRY OF WATER RESOURCES

CENTRAL GROUND WATER BOARD

GROUND WATER INFORMATION BOOKLET

TUMKUR DISTRICT, KARNATAKA

SOUTH WESTERN REGION

BANGALORE
JULY 2008

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 FOREWORD

Ground water contributes to about eighty percent of the drinking water

requirements in the rural areas, fifty percent of the urban water requirements and
more than fifty percent of the irrigation requirements of the nation. Central
Ground Water Board has decided to bring out district level ground water
information booklets highlighting the ground water scenario, its resource
potential, quality aspects, recharge – discharge relationship, etc., for all the
districts of the country. As part of this, Central Ground Water Board, South
Western Region, Bangalore, is preparing such booklets for all the 27 districts of
Karnataka state, of which six of the districts fall under farmers’ distress category.
The Tumkur district Ground Water Information Booklet has been prepared
based on the information available and data collected from various state and
central government organisations by several hydro-scientists of Central Ground
Water Board with utmost care and dedication. This booklet has been prepared by
Shri Afaque Manzer, Assistant Hydrogeologist, under the guidance of Dr. K.Md.
Najeeb, Superintending Hydrogeologist, Central Ground Water Board, South
Western Region, Bangalore. The figures were prepared by S/Sri.
H.P.Jayaprakash, Scientist-C and K.Rajarajan, Assistant Hydrogeologist. The
efforts of Report processing section in finalising and bringing out the report in this
format are commendable.
I take this opportunity to congratulate them for the diligent and careful
compilation and observation in the form of this booklet, which will certainly serve
as a guiding document for further work and help the planners, administrators,
hydrogeologists and engineers to plan the water resources management in a
better way in the district.

sd/-

(T.M.HUNSE)
Regional Director

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 TUMKUR DISTRICT AT A GLANCE

I GENERAL INFORMATIOM Statistics

i) Geographical Area 10648Sq. Km

ii) Administrative Divisions (March 07)
No. of Taluks: 10
No of Panchayats/villages 321/2708
iii) Population (as on 2001 census) 25.85 lakhs
iv) Average annual Rainfall 540.7mm
2 GEOMORPHOLOGY
Major physiographic units 2
Major Drainages 3
3 LAND USE
a) Forest Area (Hectares) 45177
b) Net Area Sown (Hectares) 582687
c) Cultivable Area (Hectares) 805531
4 MAJOR SOIL TYPES 1. Red Loamy
2. Red Sandy
3. Mixed Red and Black
soil
5 AREA UNDER PRINCIPAL CROPS (as on Crops Hectares
2004-05) Cereals 217251
Pulses 58688
Oil seed 160209
Fruits 15920
Vegetable 1865
Sugarcane 509
Other non food crops 165798
6 IRRIGATION BY DIFFERENT SOURCES Hectares
Tanks 10273
Canals 2470
Wells 119926
Other Sources Nil
Net Area Irrigated 132669
Gross Irrigated Area 132669
7 NUMBER OF GROUND WATER
MONITORING WELLS OF CGWB
Dug wells 113
Piezometers 27
10 PREDOMINANT GEOLOGICAL Archaean Complex
FORMATIONS (Granite, Gneisses and
Schists)

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11 HYDROGEOLOGY
Major water bearing formations Weathered and fractured
Granite Gneisses and
schists, Pegmatite
Premonsoon Depth to water level (2006) 1.75-18.70 mbgl
Postmonsoon Depth to water level (2006) 1.12-15 mbgl
Long term water level trend (1997-2006) in m Falling trend 0.061
per year
12 GROUND WATER EXPLORATION BY CGWB Depth Range /Discharge
AS ON MARCH 2007 range
EW 96.68-204.19 0.31-11.0 lps
OW 69.46-151.71 0.8 - 8.72 lps
13 GROUND WATER QUALITY
Presence of chemical constituents more than Fluoride, Nitrate and &
permissible limits Chloride
Type of water Potable in general
14 DYNAMIC GROUND WATER RESOURCES
(2004) IN MCM
Annual replenishable ground water resource 92262.71
Net annual ground draft 102247.26
Projected demand for Domestic and Industrial 8363.4
use up to 2025
Stage of ground water Development (%) 110 %
15 MASS AWARENWSS PROGRAMME
ORGANISED
Date 27.03.99
Place Sira
No of participants 500
WATER MANAGEMENT TRAINING NIL
PROGRAMMES ORGANISED
16 EFFORTS OF ARTIFICIAL RECHARGE AND NO
RAINWATER HEAVESTING
17 GROUND WATER CONTROL AND NOT NOTIFIED
REGULATION
18 MAJOR GROUND WATER PROBLEMS AND
ISSUES
QUALITY PROBLEM High concentration of
fluoride
DRYING OF WELLS 2866 wells dried up

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1.0 Introduction
Tumkur district was formed in 1966 under Nandidurga division, located
between north latitudes 12045’ to 14020’ and east longitudes 76020’ to 77031’
falling in the Survey of India degree sheet Nos – 57 B, 57 C, 57 D, 57 F, 57 G
and 57 H. The district is having geographical area of 10648 sq. kms.

The total population in the district is around 25,84711(as per 2001

census), out of which rural population constitutes 20.78 lakhs. The schedule cast
population constitutes 4.74 lakhs, out of which 4.12 lives in rural areas and
remaining 0.62 lakh schedule caste population lives in urban areas of the district.
The schedule tribe population constitutes 1.94 lakhs of which 1.70 lakhs live in
rural areas and remaining 0.24 lakhs of schedule tribe people live in urban areas.
The sex ratio in the district is 967 females for every 1000 males. But in Kunigal
taluk sex ratio is 1024 females for 1000 males. Population density is 244 per sq
km.

1.1 Administrative Setup and Accessibility

The district headquarters is located at Tumkur town, just 60 Kms from
Bangalore on Pune –Bangalore National highway No 4. The main Bangalore –
Miraj railway line passes through Tumkur, Gubbi and Tiptur towns. Index map
showing location of taluks and roads etc is given in fig 1.

1.2 Basin & Drainage

Pennar, Lower Cauvery and Lower Tungabhadra drain the district. Pennar Basin
is comprised of three watersheds viz 4C3H2, H3 and H4 and is drained by
Jayamangala and Kumudvathi rivers which are tributaries of North Pinakini river.
River Shimsha drains the area falling in Lower Cavery Basin in the district and is
comprised of five watersheds viz 4B3C1, C2, C3, C4 and 4B3D5. Lower
Tungabhadra Basin is drained by Vedavathi and Suvarnamukhi rivers in the
district. Lower Tungabhadra basin is comprised of four watersheds viz 4D3D6,
D7, D8 and 4D3E1.

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 There are no perennial rivers in the district. The rivers and streams
originate from small watersheds and empty into number of tanks scattered in the
district. The drainage pattern in the area can be described as semidendratic to
dendratic. Drainage map is given in fig 2.

1.3 Irrigation Practices

There are no completed major irrigation projects in the district, but part of
the command area of the Hemavathy project (The reservoir built across
Hemavathy river is located near Gorur village in Hassan District) falls in Tumkur
district. Other than this major project, there are two medium projects namely
Marconahalli reservoir (Kunigal taluk) and Sri Gayatri reservoir (Hiriyur taluk,
Chitradurga District) irrigating parts of C.N.Halli taluk irrigating 4610 and 1210 ha.
of land respectively. There are 1462 minor irrigation tanks in the district irrigating
57132 ha. of land and having a cumulative capacity of 778.52 MCM. The
Hemavathy project which on completion is expected to irrigate 2,37, 00 acres of
land in Tumkur district

Out of 582687 hectares of net area sown, 132669 ha were under irrigation
during 2004-05. An area of 2470 hectares was irrigated by canal in the district.
There are 1462 MI tanks, 13585 dug wells and 77064 bore wells in the district.
Area Irrigated by them is 10273, 2680 and 117246 hectares respectively. As on
2001-02 census, 1179 dug wells, 1687 bore wells have dried in the district.

1.4 Studies Carried out by CGWB

“Estimation of Ground water Resources in Vedavathi River Basin” was
carried out by CGWB during 1975-79 under Vedavathi River Basin Project.

Shri D.N.Ramarao, Hydrogeologist, carried out systematic hydrogeological

surveys in parts of Gubbi, Kunigal and Tumkur taluks during the FSP 1981-82.

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 Shri K.R.Sooryanarayana, Scientist, carried out systematic
Hydrogeological surveys in parts of Koratgere and Madhugiri taluks of Tumkur
district during the FSP 1992-93.

Sri Afaque Manzar, Asst. Hydrogeologist carried out micro level

hydrogeological surveys in Tiptur, Gubbi and Turuvekere taluks during the FSP
1993-94.

Sri A.Suresha, Asst. Hydrogeologist carried out reappraisal

hydrogeological surveys in Turuvekere taluk during the FSP 1994-95.

Shri Afaque Manzar, Asst. Hydrogeologist carried out reappraisal

hydrogeological surveys in C.N. Halli, Sira and Koratagere taluks during the FSP
1997-98.

Shri Kumaresan K. Asst. Hydrogeologist CGWB, SWR, Bangalore has

covered the parts of Madugiri and Pavagada under ground water management
studies during the FSP 2002-03.

Shri Balachandra L.J., Scientist, has covered Tiptur, Gubbi, and Tumkur
taluks by Reappraisal Hydrogeological surveys during the FSP 2003-2004.

S/Sri S.J.Prasad and V.S. Prakash Scientists from CGWB, SWR, Bangalore
have prepared the ground water resources and development potential report of
Tumkur district, Karnataka during the year 1993-94.

2.0 Rainfall and Climate

Tumkur district falls in the eastern dry agro climatic zone. The
temperatures start rising from January to peak in May, around 40o C is common.
Thereafter it declines during the monsoon period. The humidity is lowest during
the dry season and highest during the monsoon period. The winds are

7
predominantly south westerly during the summer monsoon and northeasterly
during the winter monsoon. The annual potential evapotranspiration is over
1800mm with monthly rates less than 100mm during December and January and
over 250 mm during May.

The year may broadly be classified into four seasons. The dry season is
from January to February. It is followed by hot weather from March to May. Over
18 percent of annual rainfall occurs during the pre monsoon season. The monsoon
season is from June to September. This season yields around 52 percent of the
annual rainfall. The post monsoon period from October to December may be
contributes around 30 percent of annual rainfall. On an average, annually over
650mm rainfall occurs in nearly 45 rainy days.

The probability of occurrence of annual rainfall between 500-800mm is

75%. The rainfall decreases from over 750mm in south and southwest to less than
600mm in the northeast and north and more or less in the direction of movement of
the monsoon. The coefficient of variability of pre monsoon season rainfall is high
indicating erratic rainfall. The same is the case during the post monsoon season.
The variability is 30 to 40 % during the monsoon season, which is normal. The
same is the case on an annual basis, it being around 30%. September is the
wettest month with monthly rainfall in excess of 170mm. Annual rainfall in the
district varies from over 900mm in Tumkur to around 600mm in Pavagada.

Rainfall distribution during the last five years is varied. During the
year 2001, the monsoon season had been normal to excess. The pre monsoon
and post monsoon seasons had been normal and deficient respectively. Over all
the year had normal rainfall in the district. During the year 2002, rainfall had been
deficient during all the rainy seasons. The year 2003 had normal rainfall during
the post monsoon season but the rainfall had been deficient during the monsoon
season as well as the premonsoon season. The result was deficit annual rainfall.
The year 2004 had excess premonsoon rainfall, normal to excess monsoon

8
rainfall and deficit to scanty post monsoon rainfall. During the year 2005 the
premonsoon season experienced deficit rainfall whereas both monsoon and post
monsoon and annual rain.

3.0 Geomorphology and Soil Type

The district is generally, an open tract except in the south of Kunigal taluk,
where the area is covered with intensive thick forests with hills. The other parts
consist of mainly undulating plains interspersed with clumps of tall and well
grown trees. To the east of Tumkur and north of Devarayana Durga, the region
presents beautiful scenery of hill ranges intersected by cultivated valleys.

Long ranges of hills running roughly south-south east direction occupy the
western part of the district. A narrow range of granitic hills grouped under
closepet granites occupies the eastern part. These hills pass through the taluks
of Pavagada, Madhugiri, Koratagere and northern parts of Tumkur. In the eastern
part, the hills comprising of schistose rocks passes through Chikkanayakanahalli,
Sira, and Gubbi taluks. The prominent hills in the eastern range of hills are
Kamandadurga (1077 m), Nidugal (1148m), Madhugiridurga (1199 m),
Channarayadurga (1138 m) Koratagiri (879m), Devarayanadurga (1187m),
Nijogal (1086m), Hutridurga (1130) and Huliyardurga (844m) above mean sea
level. The landmass in the plains ranges between 450 to 840 m above msl. While
hilly areas range between 840 to 1500 m above msl.

Major types of soils occurring in the district are 1) Red loamy soil, 2) Red
sandy soil and 3) Mixed red and black soils. Red loamy soil occurs in eastern
central part of the district covering Koratgere, Tumkur, and eastern parts of
Madhugiri and Kunigal Taluks. Red Sandy soil covers rest of the area except
very small area in the northwestern part of C.N. Halli Taluk where Mixed Red and
Black soil occur. Red soils have good drainage but poor in lime and bases.

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4.0 Ground water Scenario

4.1 Hydrogeology
The district is underlain by meta sediments (limestone) and meta volcanic
(quartzite and schists) of Dharwar Group, Peninsular gneisses and Clospet
granites of Pre Cambrian age, which are intruded by pegmatite and dolerite
dykes. Laterite occurs on the top of the hills south of Bukkapatna as small patch.
Joints are observed in general in N. E – S.W to N.N.E – S.S.W and NW – SE to
NNW – SSE directions. The alluvial patches are generally seen along the major
streams as narrow discontinuous patches particularly in granite country. It
comprises medium to coarse grained sand with silt and clay at many places and
is largely controlled by topography of the basement crystalline in the area. The
maximum thickness of the alluvium in the Suvarnamukhi basin is 14 m. The
alluvium in Jayamangali and Kumudavathy rivers is sandy in nature and attains a
thickness of only 10 to 13 m

Occurrence and movement of Ground water:

Ground water occurs in weathered and jointed zones of gneisses, granites and
schists and alluvium in unconfined or water table conditions where as it occurs in
semi confined to confined conditions in fractured formations.

Unconfined aquifer system is developed by dug wells, shallow bore wells

and filter points. This zone extends down to 13-20 mbgl depth. The yield range of
irrigation dug wells in alluvium is 300-600 m3/day where as the same in
weathered formation is 11 to 250 m3/day. The yield of filter points is in the range
of 220-350 m3/day. As the filter points are located in alluvium of limited thickness,
many of them become dry during summer. Due to over exploitation in many
pockets, this zone is getting dried up gradually.

Semi confined to confined aquifer is formed due to fractures in hard

formations. This aquifer system is developed by bore wells ranging in depth up to

10
200m. Its yield ranges up to 1200m3/day, and specific yield ranges from 2 to 173
lpm/m.

Ground Structure Depth Yield Aquifer Specific

water Range range material Yield
conditions (mbgl) (m3/day) (lpm/m)
Unconfined DW 3-16 300-600 Alluvium -
DW & < 30 11-250 Weatherd 1-158
Shallow and
bore wells jointed
formation
Filter points >20 220-350 Alluvium
Semiconfined BW Up to 200 > 1200 Fractured 2-173
to Confined hard rock

Premonsoon water level (2006)

Premonsoon depth to water level in dug wells (NHS) varies from 1.75mbgl
in Tumbadi (Koratgere taluk) to 18.70 mbgl in Haridasana Halli (Turuvekere
taluk). A generalised water level map is shown in fig 3. In general major part of
the district comes under 5 to10 and 10 to 20 mbgl depth to water level range.
Small pockets in northern and southern part of the district are covered by 2 to
5mbgl depth range. A few wells have recorded water level of less than 2 meters,
but these are point values and are cannot be generalised.

Post monsoon Depth to water level (2006):

Postmonsoon depth to water level in dug wells (NHS) varies from 1.12mbgl in
Tiptur to 15.00 mbgl (C.S.Pura, Gubbi Taluk). A generalised water level map is
shown in fig 4. In general, major part of the district comes under 5 to10 mbgl
depth to water level range. Parts of Gubbi, Tumkur, Kunigal, Madhugiri and
Pavagada taluks have shown >10 m water level. Small pockets of water level in
the range of 2 to 5mbgl are observed in various parts of the district. A few wells

11
have recorded water level of less than 2 meters, but these are point values and
are cannot be generalised.

Seasonal Fluctuation (2006)

48% of observation wells have shown seasonal rise of water level in the
range of 0.03 to 2.65m where as 36% have shown decline of water level in the
range of 0.01 to 2.44m during 1996. 16% of wells have not shown any change of
water level.

Long term water level trend (1997-2006)

Out of total of 113 observation wells 72 have become dry due to decline of
water level. Of the existing 49 wells for which data are available, 76% have
shown decadal falling trend in the range of 0.02 to 5.599m with average decline
of 0.61m. Decadal rising trend is observed in 24% of wells in the range of 0.14 to
0.93 m with decadal average rise of 0.35m.

Specific yield of unconfined aquifer

The studies carried out in the phreatic aquifers through dugwells, reveal
that the Specific capacities are in the range of 1.02 to 158 lpm /m.dd, the specific
yield of aquifers varies from 1.5 to 3.0. The sustained yield of wells varies from
11 to 126 in Gubbi taluk, 17 to 143 in Kunigal, 90 to 250 in Koratagere taluk, 20
to 47 in Sira taluk, 28 to 64 in Tiptur taluk, 24 to 56 in Tumkur taluk and 46 to 73
m3/day in Turuvekere taluk.

Aquifer parameters of confined aquifers

. The exploratory bore wells drilled are in the depth range of 69.46 to
204.19 m and the aquifers tested reveal that the gneissic and granitic complex
have an effective porosity of about 1 to 3%. The yield cum recuperation tests
conducted on the wells show that the general specific capacity ranges from 2.00
to 39 lpm/m/d-d and at places in the higher order of 155 to 173 lpm/m/d-d. The

12
transmissivity of aquifer material in general range from 18 to 52 m2/day, at places
it is recorded as high as 176 to 248 m2/day.

4.2 Ground water Resource

Net annual groundwater availability of the district is 92262.71 ham, draft
for all uses is 102247.26 ham, available resource for future irrigation
development is 15408.83 ham which can create an irrigation potential of 22632
hectares. 55% area of the district is overexploited, 8% critical, 11% semicritical
and only 26% of the area is safe. Talukwise resources and catagorisation is
given in table 1 and is shown in Fig 5.

TABLE 1: GROUND WATER RESOURCES OF TUMKUR DISTRICT, KARNATAKA STATE AS

ON MARCH 2004
ALLOCATION FOR DOMESTIC AND
AND INDUSTRIAL WATER SUPPLY
WATER DRAFT FOR IRRIGATION

WATER DRAFT FOR DOMESTIC

INDUSTRIAL USE FOR NEXT 25

NET ANNUAL GROUND WATER

WATER DRAFT FOR ALL USES

STAGE OF
IRRIGATION DEVELOPMENT
EXISTING GROSS GROUND

EXISTING GROSS GROUND

EXISTING GROSS GROUND

BALANCE GROUND WATER

AVAILABILITY FOR FUTURE

AVERAGE CROP WATER

DEVELOPMENT AS ON

IRRIGATION POTENTIAL
NET GROUND WATER

MARCH 2004
REQUIREMENT
AVAILABILITY

AVAILABLE

SEMI-CRITICAL AREA
YEARS

CRITICAL AREA (%)

SAFE AREA (%)

OE AREA (%)
TALUK

(%)

HAM HAM HAM HAM HAM HAM (m)

C.N.HALLI 10940.97 12122.92 419.46 12542.39 589.04 295.75 0.85 348.31 9 9 82

GUBBI 10732.49 8643.70 860.86 9504.56 1214.92 3339.29 0.88 3776.04 49 19 32
KORATAGERE 8362.48 14733.38 561.17 15294.56 807.28 202.80 0.89 228.50 5 95
KUNIGAL 12326.67 7048.90 861.38 7910.28 1214.74 4800.82 0.47 10203.25 84 16
MADHUGIRI 7131.24 12848.26 464.43 13312.69 664.06 0 0.82 0 14 86
PAVAGADA 8736.09 7406.27 470.98 7877.25 669.07 1172.82 0.82 1432.11 15 17 63 5
SIRA 11269.81 12247.80 594.89 12842.69 868.48 421.33 0.83 504.82 67 33
TIPTUR 6696.86 6564.78 277.95 6842.73 389.06 377.94 0.84 449.80 11 89
TUMKUR 9341.42 9074.95 912.89 9987.84 1285.29 3278.27 0.86 3830.62 58 42
TURUVEKERE 6724.68 5661.07 471.19 6132.26 661.47 1519.82 0.82 1859.16 32 68
TOTAL 92262.71 96352.03 5895.22 102247.26 8363.40 15408.83 0.81 22632.60 26 11 8 55

4.3 Ground water Quality

Water samples are collected from selected dug wells (National
Hydrograph monitoring Stations) annually for chemical analysis. The analysis
results indicate that in general the quality of ground water is potable for drinking
and suitable for irrigation purposes. However high concentration of fluoride (>1.5
mg/lit) is observed in northern part of Pavagada and Madhugiri taluks and as

13
small patches in Sira taluk. High concentration of nitrates (>45 mg/lit) is observed
in major parts of Pavagada, Sira, Madhugiri, Koratagere and central part of
Chiknayakanahalli and western parts of Gubbi taluks. This may be attributed to
more use of fertilizers. High chloride concentrations are observed in central part
of Pavagada and Madhugiri taluks and in northwestern parts of
Chiknayakanahalli taluk. Electrical conductivity is in permissible range in general.
Ground water quality map of the district is shown in fig 6.

4.4 Status of ground water Development

Wells are the major source of irrigation in the district. There are 13585 dug
wells and 77603 bore wells in the district as per 3rd MI census. 1179 dug wells
and 1687 bore wells have gone dry in the district due to lowering of water level.
Talukwise breakup of the wells is given in table 2.

Table 2: Distribution of wells according to status as per MI Census 2000-01

Sl No Taluk Wells in Use Wells dried up
Dug Wells Shallow BW Dug Wells BW
1 C.N Halli 398 7139 32 43
2 Gubbi 880 13908 198 532
3 Koratgere 1789 4410 77 63
4 Kunigal 899 6717 179 146
5 Madhugiri 3069 6529 68 80
6 Pavagada 2008 4541 167 175
7 Sira 2831 7003 90 122
8 Tiptur 276 7263 65 129
9 Tumkur 1046 11151 227 285
10 Turuvekere 389 8402 76 112
Total 13585 77603 1179 1687

Water Lifting devices

Water lifting devices used in the district are Electric motor, Diesel Pump,
Wind Mill and manual. 98% of the water lifting devices is electric pump.
Distribution of water lifting devices is given in table 3.

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 Table 3: Distribution of wells according to water lifting device as per MI Census
2000-01
Lifting Dug Bore
device Well Well Total
Electric Pump 13217 78373 91590
Diesel 334 18 352
Wind Mill 92 60 152
Solar 1 0 1
Manual 199 28 227
Others 921 271 1192
Total 14764 78750 93514

Distribution of wells according to Horse Power

Capacity of pumps used in the area to draw ground water ranges from
less than 2HP to >10HP. 50% of the wells are fitted with 6-8 HP motor. The
distribution is given in table 4.

Table 4: Distribution of wells according to Horse Power

Horse Power
0-2 2--4 4--6 6--8 8--10 >10 Not Specified
Dug Well 286 4350 7969 819 107 20 1213
Bore Well 817 5105 4139 27496 3427 167 359
Total 1103 9455 12108 28315 3534 187 1572
% 2 17 22 50 6 0 3

Drinking water Wells

Major source water supply in the district is bore wells. There are 15870
water supply bore wells in the district with 805 piped water supply and 2941
miniwater supply schemes as on 31.03.06.

15
5.0 Ground water Management Strategy

5.1 Ground water Development

A hydrogeological map showing water bearing formations, yield potential,
decadal mean water level, isohyet is shown in fig 7. Sustainability of ground
water resource and its judicious use should be given prime importance while
making development strategy. In critical and over exploited areas artificial
recharge and rainwater harvesting measures are recommended to augment to
ground water system. About 15408.83 ham of ground water resource is available
in the district for further development. The development is recommended only in
areas categorised as safe and semi critical (Fig 5). In such areas potential
aquifers can be located by hydrogeological surveys aided by geophysical
methods. Dug wells and filter points are recommended only in river and valley
banks where sufficient thickness of valley fill is available which gets saturated
during rainy seasons. Construction of collector wells would be the ideal
structures in the alluvial tracts adjoining the river and nallah courses.
Development in other feasible areas should be done by bore wells. Spacing norm
of 200 m may be strictly adhered to avoid interference. Aquifer should be
pumped as per crop water requirement.

5.2 Water Conservation & Artificial Recharge

About 55% of the area of the taluk is overexploited. More than 50% of the
areas of five taluks in the district are over exploited and two taluks have more
than 60% area in critical and semi critical category. Water level is showing
downward trend. In such a situation there is need to augment ground water
recharge by artificial recharge structures and rainwater harvesting structures to
harvest noncommittal surface runoff. Talukwise non-commited surface run off,
feasible artificial recharge structures, their cost estimate and expected benefits
are given in table 5. Areas suitable for such structures are shown in fig 5.
However it is recommended that over exploited and critical areas may be taken
up on priority basis. 37.74 MCM of subsurface run off is available in the district.

16
 This can be harnessed by construction of 15 subsurface dyke, 87 percolation
tanks, 290 check dams and 173 filter beds at an estimated cost of Rs 2770 lakhs.
This will create an additional irrigation of 3139 hectares.

Table 5: Feasibility of artificial recharge structures and their cost estimates in Tumkur district

Availability of Surface non committed monsoon runoff

Expected
Number of
benefit of
Proposed Cost of recharge Recharge Capacity of
artificial
Recharge Structures (Rs. In Lakhs) each structure (MCM)
recharge &
Structure

Total Recharge capacity (MCM)

RWH

Additional Irrigation Potential (Hectares)

Total Cost in Lakhs

Vol. of water likely to be recharged

Sub surface dyke (@Rs 4.5 lakhs)

Percolation tank (@Rs 20 lakhs)

Check dam(@Rs 2.4 lakhs) ***

Filter Beds (@Rs 1.5 lakhs)

(MCM)
Taluk
Sub surface dyke

Sub surface dyke

Percolation tank

Percolation tank
Check dam

Check dam
Filter Beds

Filter Beds

(MCM)
C.N.HALLI 5 27 91 55 24.7 549 220 82 10.98 1.65 5.49 2.74 1.10 10.98 875.33 8.23 991.80
GUBBI 4 21 69 41 18.6 413 165 62 8.26 1.24 4.13 2.07 0.83 8.26 658.80 6.20 746.46
KORATAGERE 0 2 8 5 2.1 47 18.7 7 0.93 0.14 0.47 0.23 0.09 0.93 74.38 0.70 84.27
KUNIGAL 0 0 0 0 0.1 1.3 0.51 0.2 0.03 0 0.01 0.01 0.00 0.03 2.02 0.02 2.28
MADHUGIRI 1 7 24 14 6.4 142 56.6 21 2.83 0.42 1.42 0.71 0.28 2.83 225.75 2.12 255.79
PAVAGADA 0 0 1 0 0.2 4.5 1.79 0.7 0.09 0.01 0.04 0.02 0.01 0.09 7.14 0.07 8.09
SIRA 3 15 49 29 13.2 294 117 44 5.87 0.88 2.94 1.47 0.59 5.87 468.22 4.40 530.52
TIPTUR 0 2 6 4 1.7 38 15.1 5.7 0.76 0.11 0.38 0.19 0.08 0.76 60.40 0.57 68.44
TUMKUR 2 12 39 23 10.5 234 93.6 35 4.68 0.7 2.34 1.17 0.47 4.68 373.34 3.51 423.02
TURUVEKERE 0 1 3 2 0.7 16 6.28 2.4 0.31 0.05 0.16 0.08 0.03 0.31 25.03 0.24 28.36
15 87 290 173 82.7 1758.8 694.58 261.5 34.74 5.2 17.38 8.69 3.48 34.74 2770.41 26.06 3139.03

6.0 Ground water related Issues & Problems

There is over exploitation of ground water resource in 55% area of the district.
This has resulted in the decline of water level of the order of 0.61m per decade.
919 dug wells and 402 bore wells have gone dry in the district. Immediate
artificial recharge measures are required to be taken to address the trend.
Fluoride concentration of more than permissible limit exists in parts of
Pavagada, Sira and Madhugiri taluks of the district. Ground water in younger
granites has more fluoride content than the gneisses. The fluoride content

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increases with depth in same aquifer. The shallow aquifers are having
comparatively low concentration of fluoride. In order to reduce or control the
problem, it is recommended to recharge ground water by way of artificial
recharge structures like percolation tank, desilting of silted tanks, check dams,
nalla bunds, farm ponds and subsurface dykes. Ground water can be tapped
from valley fills of Pennar and its tributaries for drinking purposes. There are 150
tanks in the Pavagada taluk of which 40 are major, 110 minor tanks. Desilting
and maintaining of these tanks are utmost importance, so that the Natural
recharge will take place without any hindrance and this will recharge the shallow
aquifer mainly, which can be used for drinking use, which is free from fluoride in
major part of the area.

7.0 Awareness Training

7.1 Mass awareness & water Management Training Programmes

Central Ground Water Board, SWR, Bangalore has organized “ Mass
awareness programme on use and conservation of Ground Water on 27.03.99 at
Sira, Tumkur district as apart of national level programme. The programme was
well attended by administrators, local farmers. Display of slogans in local
language (Kannada) highlighting to the attributes to ground water were arranged
apart from technical maps/ (Reports) charts etc., pertaining to the area. Dr.
Y.J.Pardhasaradhi, Regional Director presented a brief note on awareness
programme and its aims and objectives, Shri. D.S.S.Murthy, Director, spoke on
the availability of ground water in the state as well as in the country and the need
to have awareness towards utilization of ground water. He also mentioned about
the formation of Central Ground Water Authority and it’s functioning. Shri.
K.R.Sooryanarayana, Scientist CGWB spoke on use and conservation of ground
water with a special reference to artificial recharge studies in the state.
Representatives from local state Govt. departments expressed their views and
experiences on the topic highlighting local problems and their solutions. Shri.
Annayyappa, Asst. Development Commissioners of Sira, presided over the

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function, Shri. B.Nagaraj, Executive Officer taluk Panchayat was the chief guest
apart from local elected representative. The function concluded highlighting the
need for conservation of water to overcome the shortages. About 500 persons
attended the programme.

7.2 Participation in Exhibition, Mela, fair etc

No exhibition was conducted in the district

8.0 Areas Notified by CGWA/SGWA

No area in the district is notified so far

9.0 Recommendations
The district mainly depends upon ground water for drinking and irrigation
purposes. About 90% of the irrigation and drinking requirements are met from
ground water. This has resulted in over exploitation in about 55% area in the
district. In general water levels are showing declining trend. About 1179 dug
wells and 1687 bore wells have dried up in the district. Also there is decrease of
potable water in fluoride-affected areas due to drying of phreatic aquifer. Hence
to overcome these problems, it is recommended to adopt scientific management
of ground water resource. Further development should be allowed only areas,
which are catagorised as safe and semi critical with caution. Mass awareness
programmes should be conducted for public awareness about the limited
availability of ground water resource. Farmers should be educated to grow less
water intensive crops and adopt micro irrigation system. Government should
provide subsidy such irrigation systems. Artificial recharge structures should be
constructed in feasible areas for augmenting ground water resource and to
improve ground water quality especially in areas of Bagepalli and Madhugir and
Sira taluks where fluoride problem exists. Sites for bore wells and dug wells
should selected with the technical advice from technical qualified persons.

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